OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY

Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that
are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a
given height.1They are defined as abnormal or excessive fat
accumulation that may impair health. They are also the leading
risks for global deaths. Around 3.4 million adults die each year
as a result of being overweight or obese. In addition, 44% of
the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden
and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are
attributable to overweight and obesity.2
The relationship between obesity and diabetes is of such
interdependence that the term 'diabesity' has been coined. The
passage from obesity to diabetes is made by a progressive defect
in insulin secretion coupled with a progressive rise in insulin
resistance. Both insulin resistance and defective insulin
secretion appear very prematurely in obese patients, and both
worsen similarly towards diabetes. Thus, the classic 'hyperbolic
relationship' between insulin resistance and insulin secretion
and the 'glucose allostasis concept' remain prevailing concepts
in this particular field of knowledge. An increase in overall
fatness, preferentially of visceral as well as ectopic fat
depots, is specifically associated with insulin resistance. The
accumulation of intramyocellular lipids may be due to reduced
lipid oxidation capacity. The ability to lose weight is related
to the capacity to oxidize fat. Thus, a relative defect in fat
oxidation capacity is responsible for energy economy and
hampered weight loss.3
PHILIPPINE SETTING
According to the 7th National Nutrition Survey conducted last
2008, 27 adults in every 100 is either overweight (18.8%) or
obese (4.5%). There is a 2.6%t significant increase in the
prevalence of overweight and obese among adults as compared with
the previous survey conducted in 2003. Hypertesion based on a
1

Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, United
State of America. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html
2

Retrieved from Who Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

Golay A. and Ybarra J. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16311223
3

single visit blood pressure (BP) has significantly increased

from 22.5% to 25.3% from 2003 to 2008. As for hyperglycemia,
increased from 3.4% in 2003 to 4.8%in 2008 has been recorded.
FILED BILL ON MENU LABELLING
House Bill 66, introduced by Rep. Anthony Del Rosario seeks to
require
mandatory
disclosure
and
display
of
nutritional
information of food offered on the menus and menu boards of
restaurants and fast food chains. It was filed on July 1, 2013
and
currently
pending
on
the
Committee
on
Health
for
deliberation. It requires restaurants and fast food chain
establishments nationwide to disclose and display the nutrient
content information of each standard menu item on the menus and
menu boards. Those offering self-service food and food-ondisplay, the nutrient content information shall be posted on a
sign adjacent t such food. Among the details to be posted are
the following:
1) Total fat
2) Saturated fat
3) Cholesterol
4) Sodium
5) Total carbohydrates
6) Complex carbohydrates
7) Sugars
8) Dietary fibers
9) Total protein
10)
Calorie content
However, the disclosure shall not apply to custom orders on food
that is part of a customary market test or temporary menu items.
It
also
requires
all
restaurants
and
fast
food
chain
establishments to secure for a Nutrition Disclosure Compliance
Certificate (NDCC) from the Department of Health (DOH), which is
valid for two (2) years.
FOREIGN LAW ON MENU LABELLING
The US Congress passed the federal menu label law, which became
effective in March 2010. The law requires the Food and Drug
Administration to carry out the federal menu label provisions,

which it did on April 1, 2011. However, FDA is still finalizing

the proposed rules.
There are two (2) guidelines released by the said agency: 1) For
Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments 2)
Calorie Labeling on Articles of Food in Vending Machines. The
following are the salient points of the proposed guidelines:

For Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments:

o Restaurants or similar food establishments with 20 or
more locations.
o Movie theaters, airplanes, bowling alleys, etc. would
not be included.
o Restaurants and similar retail food establishments not
covered, may opt in.
o Calories would be disclosed on all menus and menu
boards,
including
menu
boards
at
drive-through
locations.
o A
succinct
statement
concerning
suggested
daily
caloric intake would be posted prominently on menus
and menu boards to help the public understand the
significance of the calorie information provided on
menus and menu boards
o The use of calorie ranges for standard menu items that
come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations
but are listed as a single menu item, such as
combination meals or ice cream that comes in different
flavors, shall be done.
o Additional nutrition information would be available on
request.
For vending Machines
o Vending machine operators that own or operate 20 or
more
vending
machines
would
disclose
calorie
information for food sold from a vending machine
unless certain nutrition information is visible to
consumers on individual packages of food while inside
the machine.
o Operators of vending machines not covered (i.e.
operators with fewer than 20 vending machines) may
opt-in.
o Calorie information would be posted on a sign in close
proximity to the article of food, i.e., adjacent to

the vending machine, but not necessarily attached to

the vending machine
COMMENTS (Filed HB 66 v US Menu Label Law)

Coverage
o The proposed house bill of Rep. Del Rosario is more
comprehensive as it covers restaurants, which was not
further qualified into having a minimum number of
branch. However, there was no definition of restaurant
in the proposed bill, thus confusion as to the
inclusion of carinderia, kiosks, joints and carts
might arise.
Menu Labeling
o The information required by HB 66 is more detailed,
thus
it
may
require
thorough
studies
on
the
ingredients of each food item. Moreover, it may cause
further confusion to the consumers as the menu and
menu
boards
would
include
different
figures
representing different nutritional information.
The
bill could copy the Menu Label Law in this aspect, by
requiring the calorie content to be the required
information
to
be
displayed
while
additional
information are available upon request.
Monitoring
o HB 66 gave the power to DOH to create its implementing
rules and regulations though it was silent as to the
monitoring and inspection capacity of the said agency.
Further Study
o The Menu Label Law has been opposed by some groups
indicating that the said law does not help in changing
the food consumption behavior of consumers. The
rationale behind such law was to curb the increasing
number of overweigh and obese citizens, who, according
to a survey done, have the tendency to buy ready-toeat food from these food establishments. There was a
study showing that the trend of Americans is inclined
into purchasing these kind of food than to prepare
their meal, either with processed o raw ingredients.
This behavior has been linked to obesity and other
related diseases.

o As for HB 66, the freedom to an informed decisionmaking in purchasing food was emphasized. There was an
assumption that most people who eat at restaurants
and fast food chain establishments tend to consume
more food that have high calorie contents and less of
the healthier and more nutritious food because most
are generally unaware or ill-informed of the calorie
and nutritional content of the food.
o HB 66 rightly emphasized the right of each consumer to
any information necessary in his decision-making.
Though the goal is to have a healthier citizenry, its
feasibility through menu labeling law is still
contestable. Thus, the ultimate rationale of the law
must rely on the freedom to be informed of the
consumer.